Crypto Investors' Profit Jumped by $130 Billion In 2021: Report

The cryptocurrency market has shown an unprecedented appetite for growth over the past two years. This has resulted in a windfall for many investors, as proved by a new report by blockchain data platform Chainalysis.

The report said crypto investors made a total gain of $162.7 billion in 2021, about $130 billion more than a year before that. The wealth of crypto investors was propelled by unprecedented growth in crypto assets, with Bitcoin jumping a massive 64 per cent and Ethereum by 393 per cent last year.

Most of those who gained from the crypto rally last year were from the US, making an estimated $47 billion, 476 per cent. They were followed by investors in the UK (431 per cent gains), Germany (43 per cent gains), Japan, and China.

Last year, China's total cryptocurrency gains were $5.1 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 2020 (194 per cent y-o-y growth). The relatively low level of growth reflected Beijing's crackdown on crypto-related trade activities in the second half of 2021. 

China's major crackdown on crypto began in May when it banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency. Then in September, it slapped a blanket ban on all crypto transactions and mining in the country.

India was placed at the 21st position with a realised gain of around $1.85 billion.

The data for last year showed that cryptocurrency remains a source of economic opportunity for users in emerging markets. However, the crypto coins have failed this year to reflect the same momentum for growth amid regulators worldwide mulling ways to regulate the emerging sector. 

With the industry showing less appetite for growth, the focus has shifted to allied sectors such as the NFTs or non-fungible tokens.

But experts are hopeful that crypto trading will bounce back in the remaining part of 2022, creating more wealth for those who have invested in the sector.